This is a question about magnetic fields I need some help. Thanks?! !
1 Answer
Magnetic field is caused by motion of charges
Explanation:
It is observed in experiments that electric current produces magnetic field. For example, a long straight conducing wire carrying electric current produces circular magnetic field that wraps around the conductor.
A magnet also produces magnetic field. Since not all materials are magnetic, the original of the magnetism has to do with the types of atoms a material has. Some atoms are magnetic, some are not.
If a magnet is repeatedly broken into two halves until it reaches a single atom, then the atom itself is a magnetic. (It could happen that the magnet has more than one type of atoms. So in the end, you may have more than one type of atoms, and not all of them magnetic.)
How so? Because electrons are orbiting around in the atom to produce magnetic field. However, magnetic field produced by electrons circulating clockwisely can cancel out those circulating counter-clockwisely.
Why not push the split one step further? What if the atom is broken apart into electrons and protons and neutrons? can there still be magnetic fields? Yes! Because the electron itself is a super tiny magnet. So is the proton. The neutron is not magnetic. We election magnet spin or magnetic spin.
Back to the atom, magnetic fields are produced by the orbiting electrons and their spins, and by proton spins. If these fields don't cancel out completely, the atom become magnetic. Check out the periodic table, you can find many of the in the transition metals and rare-earth elements.
Now, push your idea one more step further: can you break the electron or the proton apart? If so, can magnetic fields still be produced? Happy hunting...
